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Rock, Rhythm and Doo Wop

Sat, 03/07/2009 - 8:00pm

Little Anthony & The Imperials

WQED/Blaine Stiger

PBS presents a musical event that is as close to time-travel as television allows. Rock, Rhythm and Doo Wop, airing Saturday, March 7 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV 21 (cable 11) and WXXI-HD (cable 1011 and DT 21.1), taped at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Oldies Capital of the World, reunites the original legends of rock ’n’ roll for a once-in-a-lifetime performance.

Little Anthony & The Imperials are coming to Rochester! During the television special, you’ll be able to call into WXXI at (585) 454-6300 or 1-800-295-WXXI, make a donation, and as a thank you gift – receive tickets to this concert at the Auditorium Theatre on April 4, 2009. You may also pledge online at WXXI.org/support/membership.

Hosted by pop music legends Frankie Valli, Jerry "The Iceman" Butler, and Lloyd Price, the program also boasts a surprise appearance by Little Richard, who burns up the stage with an exhilarating performance of Keep-A-Knockin’.

Also on the bill for Rock, Rhythm and Doo Wopis Fred Parris, who comes out of retirement after a decade to join the Five Satins in a performance of In the Still of the Night, the number-one oldies single of all time. Hal Miller joins the Rays after 40 years of retirement to sing Silhouettes; and Kathy Young is reunited with the Innocents to sing A Thousand Stars for the first time since they recorded the hit when Young was just 14 years old.

Ed Townsend, who wrote and produced Marvin Gaye’s R&B classic Let’s Get It On, performs his 1958 hit For Your Love; hometown Pittsburgh boy Lou Christie displays his classic trademark falsetto in Lightning Strikes. The line-up also includes superstars Little Anthony & The Imperials singing their hits Tears on My Pillow, Going Out of My Head, Hurt So Bad, and Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop. In a touching return to the stage after battling throat cancer last year, Larry Chance reunites with the Earls to sing I Believeand Remember Then.

Said TJ Lubinsky, producer of Rock, Rhythm and Doo Wop, “We’re preserving a personal time capsule of memories. This show gives the performers the credit, honor and respect they deserve. And for the audience, well, it’s as close as they’re ever going to get to that piece of their past, to what they experienced in the 50s and 60s.”